Experiencing support during needle-related medical procedures: a hermeneutic study with young children (3–7 years)

Karlsson, Katarina

Jönköping University, School of Health and Welfare, HHJ, Dep. of Nursing Science. Jönköping University, School of Health and Welfare, HHJ. CHILD. Faculty of Caring Sciences, Work Life and Social Welfare, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden .

Dalheim Englund, Ann-Charlotte

Faculty of Caring Sciences, Work Life and Social Welfare, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden .

Enskär, Karin

Jönköping University, School of Health and Welfare, HHJ, Dep. of Nursing Science. Jönköping University, School of Health and Welfare, HHJ. CHILD.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8596-6020

Nyström, Maria

Faculty of Caring Sciences, Work Life and Social Welfare, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden .

Rydström, Ingela

Faculty of Caring Sciences, Work Life and Social Welfare, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden .

Abstract [en]

Background Needle-related medical procedures (NRMPs) are something that all young children need to undergo at some point. These procedures may involve feelings of fear, pain and anxiety, which can cause problems later in life either when seeking healthcare in general or when seeking care specifically involving needles. More knowledge is needed about supporting children during these procedures.

Aim: This study aims to explain and understand the meaning of the research phenomenon: support duringNRMPs. The lived experiences of the phenomenon are interpreted from the perspective of younger children.

Method: The analysis uses a lifeworld hermeneutic approach based on participant observations and interviews with children between 3 and 7 years of age who have experienced NRMPs.

Results: The research phenomenon, support for younger children during NRMPs, is understood through the following themes: being the centre of attention, getting help with distractions, being pampered, becoming involved, entrusting oneself to the safety of adults and being rewarded. A comprehensive understanding is presented wherein younger children experience support from adults during NRMPs in order to establish resources and/or strengthen existing resources.

Conclusions: The manner in which the child will be guided through the procedure is developed based on the child's reactions. This approach demonstrates that children are actively participating during NRMPs. Supporting younger children during NRMPs consists of guiding them through a shared situation that is mutually beneficial to the child, the parent and the nurse. Play during NRMP is an important tool that enables the support to be perceived as positive.

Abstract [en]

Aim: The overall aim of the thesis is to create knowledge about what it means for younger children to undergo needle-related medical procedures (NRMPs), and what caring support in relation to this means based on nurses’, parents’, and younger children's perspectives.

Methods: The first and second papers used descriptive phenomenological analysis to describe the meanings of supporting younger children during NRMPs from the perspective of nurses (Ι) and parents(ΙΙ). The third and fourth papers used lifeworld hermeneutic analysis to explain and understand the consequences related to NRMPs (ΙΙΙ) and support (ΙV) during these procedures from younger children’s perspectives. Data has been collected by participant observations and lifeworld interviews documented by video-recorded observations, field notes, and audio-recorded interviews. In total 60 people participated, fourteen nurses, twenty-five parents, and twenty-one children.

Main results: The results show that an important consequence for children of procedures with needles is experiences of fear. The child's fear affects how the child is able to manage the procedure and the support the child gets from adults is crucial to whether the child's fear increases or decreases.

The support consists of giving support or receiving support. Parents support the child by safeguarding and protecting the child during the needle-related procedure; they “keep the child under the protection of their wings,” sometimes very close and sometimes a little further out under the wingtips. Nurses support the child by starting from individual child’s experiences and needs; they "balance on a tightrope" in an unpredictable situation. In the meeting between the child, the parents, and the nurses, the adults are guided by the child in what forms of support are provided. This continues until the needle-related medical procedure is completed and the child can walk proud and strong from the procedure with a feeling that "I can handle this.”

Conclusions: Children’s need for support during needle-related medical procedures is primarily tied to children’s experiences of fear. For the child to experience a caring support, adults need to understand children’s experiences of fear as well as children’s need for support and what form the support should take. A caring support develops dialectically between children and adults in a circular movement. In such a dialectic, the child guides the adult and vice versa. That children have the capability of guiding adults during needle-related medical procedures shows that they are active and participating. Here it becomes clear that there is no objective location of the phenomenon of support. Support can therefore only be studied as a lived experience of those who need it.